CDC: Nurses, assistants most injury prone in healthcareMcKnight's Healthcare jobs have long been among the riskiest, most dangerous and injury-prone occupations around. Nurses and nurse assistants are the unluckiest among them, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Among the most costly injuries were musculoskeletal. In 2011, healthcare personnel experienced seven times the national rate of musculoskeletal disorders, compared with all other private sector workers, the CDC noted. It cited overweight/obese and acutely ill patients, high patient-to-nurse ratios, long shifts, and current efforts to mobilize patients almost immediately after medical interventions.

Happy Nurses Week!May 12, the final day of National Nurses Week, is the birthday of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). The English nurse became known as the founder of professional nursing, especially due to her pioneering work during the Crimean War (1853-1856). Due to her habit of making rounds at night, Nightingale became known as "The Lady with the Lamp". National Nurses Week was first observed in October 1954, the 100th anniversary of Nightingale's mission to Crimea. May 6 was introduced as the date for the observance in 1982. The AzNA board of directors and staff sends their appreciation and recognition for all you do!

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MISSED AN ISSUE OF THE AZNA TODAY? Click here to visit the AzNA TODAY archive page.

OASIS Hospital, the Valley’s Premier Orthopedic Hospital is seeking talented and knowledgeable RNs to join their world class team! These highly sought after Night Opportunities in the PSU provide autonomy, exceptional rates, a family setting, great schedules, and pure joy.

Nurses Week is May 6-12 Take some time for some self-reflectionThese dates cover both May 6, which is the ANA sponsored National Nurses Day established in the 1970’s, and May 12, which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale in 1820 and is International Nurses Day. Nightingale is recognized as the founder of modern nursing. Nurses are encouraged to take time for self-reflection during this special week.

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AZ budget reports can be found on the AzNA website monthlyThe Budget for the State of Arizona is set every year by the legislature with the approval of the Governor. Citizen input is always important to legislators as they consider what to fund and what to cut. The website for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee has a wealth of information including regular financial summaries, state budgets and historical documentation. The JLBC Staff reports monthly to the Legislature on the status of General Fund revenue collections and other fiscal issues. A summary of monthly budget reports can be found on the AzNA public policy website. Look on the right-hand column under state news. As an example, this is the report for March, 2015.

March General Fund revenues were 0.5 percent above the prior year. Collections in March were $51.3 million above the enacted budget forecast.

Through March, individual income tax refunds were lower and payments were higher than expected. Since the March data reflects only the middle of tax filing season, it is too early to know whether these latest results are temporary or ongoing.

Another contributing factor to the forecast overage was the Corporate Income Tax. These receipts were expected to decline significantly with the initial implementation of a 4-year phased-in reduction of corporate tax liabilities. Compared to March 2014, however, the loss was minimal. Based on further research, the timing of corporate tax filings may delay the full impact of the tax legislation.

In total, year-to-date for FY 2015, base General Fund revenues have increased by 4.9 percent compared to the prior year, and are $87.5 million above the enacted budget forecast.

WHO:
We are seeking 9 hematology nurses or nurse practitioners that perform infusions for patients with hemophilia OR other blood disorders that require regular infusions.

WHAT:
An evaluation research study on a delivery device designed to make the process of preparing infusions easier, more efficient and safe. It is not yet on the market, which is why it’s it is going through this evaluation research. Researchers have to interview individuals who would typically use this type of device.

WHAT IT’S NOT:
This is NOT a sales or a product push. It’s observational research used solely for the purposes of designing safe, efficient and usable products.

TIME and COMMITMENT:
Sessions available Monday, May 18th through Thursday, May 21st

*(2) 30 minute session that are 24 hours apart.
The first session will introduce and provide training on the device.
The second session will observe interaction with the device and obtain feedback.
There will NOT be any injections during the study sessions.

Registration:
To be considered for this study, along with our future studies, we invite you to click here to join the Research Collective Respondent Panel. Qualified respondents will be contacted for further qualification and for scheduling. As this project only requires interviews with 20 HCP’s, if you are not scheduled for this study, please be assured we will contact you to gauge your interest and availability for one of our future studies. Thank You.

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NEWS FROM AROUND THE INDUSTRY

Mental Health Awareness Month aims to knock down stigmaBy Jessica TaylorBecause of that stigma, it's harder for people who may need help to seek out the resources that are available to them. Since there’s no uniform treatment, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states that untreated mental illness leads to more emergency department visits, hospitalizations, school failures, incarcerations, suicides and more suffering by individuals with mental illness and their families — and increases overall healthcare costs.

Informatics nurses provide 'high degree of impact' on quality of careHealth IT OutcomesThe 2015 HIMSS Impact of the Informatics Nurse Survey reveals informatics nurses bring value to the use of clinical systems and technologies at their healthcare organizations. According to the survey, informatics nurses provide the greatest value in the implementation phase (85 percent) and optimization phase (83 percent) of the clinical systems process. The web-based survey polled 576 individuals with a job title of Director or higher, informatics nurse, or clinician between Nov. 17, 2014 and Jan. 24, 2015.

Nurses say peer bullying is rampant — and patients pay the priceFierceHealthcareAs the issue of violence directed at healthcare workers gains ever more attention, research shows that nurses and doctors suffer some of the worst abuse at the hands of their own colleagues.
At least 85 percent of nurses have been verbally abused by a fellow nurse, and some experts estimate that 1 in 3 nurses will consider quitting because of the bullying, Marie Claire reports.

Women more likely than men to have ongoing memory problems after concussionMedical News TodayA new study led by researchers from Taiwan finds the effects of concussion may differ between men and women, with women experiencing more persistent working memory impairment. While the majority of people fully recover from concussion within three months, around 10-15 percent continue to experience complications.

What is the origin of Nurses Week?By Joan SpitreyEach year, Nurses Week begins on May 6 and runs through May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday. This is a week where the worker bees of the healthcare world get some time in the spotlight. Many nurses look forward to the week of gifts, praises and a reminder of the greatness of nursing. But how did all this celebrating actually originate?

Nurses crunch the numbers in quest to address some of healthcare's big challengesInfection Control TodayMore than 8 million healthcare workers are employed in settings where they are exposed to hazardous drugs by leaks, vapors, or residue. These can cause cancers, infertility, and other serious health problems. Up to 75 percent of antibiotics prescriptions in the U.S. are for upper respiratory infections (antibiotics work in only a fraction of these cases), with such misuse creating drug-resistant superbugs. At least 3.2 million Americans have hepatitis C and up to 85 percent don’t know they have a deadly but curable virus.

Hospitals increasingly turn to patients for adviceKaiser Health NewsPatient advisory councils often serve as sounding boards for hospital leaders — offering advice on a range of issues. Members are usually patients and relatives who had bad hospital experiences and want to change how things work, or who liked their stay and want to remain involved. This hunt for patient perspective, which is becoming more and more common, is fueled in part by the health law's quality-improvement provisions and other federal financial incentives, such as the link between Medicare payments and patient satisfaction scores.

Few RA patients reach sustained remissionMedPage Today Despite the current emphasis on sustained remission as the goal of treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis, few patients actually achieve that, a researcher reported. Over a five-year period, only 12 percent of patients enrolled in the Norfolk Arthritis Register were classified as having persistent remission, defined as being in remission at three or more annual visits, according to Michael J. Cook, PhD, of the University of Manchester.

Multidisciplinary bone marrow program prepares nurses for aspirations, biopsiesOncology Nurse AdvisorRegistered nurses who participated in a bone marrow program maintained a 98 percent score when rated by pathologists for the quality of the bone marrow aspiration and biopsy samples they collected, with no reported incidences of postprocedure complications, according to a presentation at the ONS 40th Annual Congress.
This use of nurse procedurists “demonstrates an innovative partnership for clinical practice, as recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM),” said Daravan Kao, RN, BSN, OCN®, of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance in Seattle, WA.

New shingles vaccine may offer improved protectionThe New York TimesIn a large randomized trial, researchers have found that a newly developed shingles vaccine is about twice as effective as the one currently in use. Researchers studied the vaccine, not yet approved for general use, in more than 15,000 people whose average age was 62. Half the group received two doses of the vaccine, the other half got placebo shots. The study is published in The New England Journal of Medicine.